Mortgage - What documents do they ask for?

DH and I are starting to think about buying a home. It probably won't happen for awhile and it may not happen at all, since it seems to be hard for two Americans on work permits, but we're going to go see a mortgage advisor soon and see what are options are.

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering what kind of documents you need to provide when applying for a mortgage. Will they want to see bank statements? What about bills from the US? I worked for a mortgage company in the states and we asked for a lot of documentation when underwriting a loan and I wondered if it was the same here. I'm sure that the mortgage advisor will tell us all of this, but it's a few weeks away and I wanted to start thinking about these kinds of things now. Thanks in advance for your help.
Kim

the mortgage advisor will need to satisfy the anti-money laundering people/laws (sorry for the lack of technical words).  basically the same thing you used to open a bank account- identidy & proof of address (passport + utility bill).

the mortgage provider needed a copy of the stamp in my passport stating that I had at least (2) years to live here.  they wouldn't accept the letter from the home office, had to be the stamp. 

my mortgage advisor didn't need to see any salary slips, bank statements, as i had a self-certifying mortgage. 

I'm meeting with a freelance financial advisor tomorrow to start learning about all this; I can let you know what I find out (though I know NOTHING, so I'm sure I'll learn things tomorrow that you already know).

Thanks for the replies. Elizabeth, it would be great if you let me know if they say anything about the documents you'll need.

Will do!

Well... my goodness it's overwhelming!   The knowledge that I lack, not what they require

It seems it boils down to two main points:

 1 - how much you can put down
 2 - your credit score

if 1 is a lot (say 1/2 or so), and you have a good credit rating, she said most times they may not even ask for proof of income.  (and she said it also looks good if you've lived in the same place since you've been here).
These may seem like very obvious things, but...
since she's an advisor and I'm just starting, we didn't yet get into details of specific papers they require.
I hope that's of some help

Thanks Elizabeth! That was helpful. 

our advisor took copies of each of our wage slips, a utility bill, passports/visa, and asked my employer for a letter confirming my salary.

This is what I just sent off to our mortgage guy:

copies of our passport.  He did not ask about my visa but I gave copies of them as well.  we had to sign the copies.
copies of two bills for each of us with are name and address on them.  For H I sent a bank statment and mobile phone bill and for me a credit card statement and bank statment.  I also included our letter of offer for a mortgage through our bank because it had both of our names on it.
Three wage slips for H
Three wage slips for me.
Proof of my wage increase for the coming year i.e. starting 1 April 2007.